Barbara Jeffrey, 34, had just given birth when she noticed that something was wrong – and the lump her doctors thought was nothing serious turned out to be cancer
A new mother who found a lump in her breast when breastfeeding was told it was a blocked milk duct – before finding out she had cancer.
Barbara Jeffery, 34, had just given birth to Canada-Rose, who is now three, when she noticed the lump. After going to her GP and a breast clinic, she was told it was mastitis, which is when a blocked duct becomes inflamed.
She explained: “They said it wasn’t anything to be worried about, it wasn’t dangerous … I had a lump the size of a golf ball, and it was growing and becoming more and more painful.”
The mum had it drained four times before further testing was done, and Barbara said that if they had done a biopsy then, “we would have been in a very different position”. Eventually, an ultrasound, mammogram and tests found that she had grade 3 triple negative breast cancer.
She said: “When they told me I had Canada-Rose on my lap. My husband Craig had stepped outside with our son, Hudson, who is autistic and was feeling dysregulated. I shouted through to him, ‘Craig, I’ve got cancer,’ and he phoned my sister in London.”
Barbara was told that she had two tumours in her left breast which had spread to the lymph nodes in her armpit and the mammary chain down to the centre of her sternum. She began chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and also had a double mastectomy.
Over time, Craig noticed that his wife was getting more forgetful. She recalled that on the evening of her daughter’s first birthday, she got into bed and said she couldn’t remember any part of the day.
Barbara said: “That night we contacted my consultant, who’s phenomenal. She put me through for a brain MRI, which found three tumours. I was 33 years old with a one-year-old and a three-year-old, being told I had stage 4 cancer and six to nine months to live.” Further scans found an additional ten brain tumours.
Despite being stable now, Barbara said she is under “no illusion that it won’t come back”, adding: “It’s like antibiotics – my body will get used to Olaparib, a chemotherapy drug which stops the cancer from growing, and it will become ineffective. I may need to go back for chemo or radiotherapy, or it may be that they can’t do anything more. We’re very aware that this is going to be life limiting.”
Her children are now four and three, and Barbara’s hair loss during treatment was particularly hard for Hudson. “When I lost my hair he was devastated. He used it as a regulation tool and it was how he’d go to sleep – by twizzling my hair.”
Barbara said that her message to pregnant women would be to “know your normal” and if a doctor says you have mastitis, “keep an eye on it”.
She added: “The waiting times are killing people. They can’t get enough people through treatment – they don’t have the capacity to treat people in time to manage symptoms or save life.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Barbara’s cancer-related costs: Donate to B to get some answers & focus on recovery, organized by Barbara Jeffery